Fire and steel. All he could see was fire and steel. Fire and steel and war, a maelstrom of blades and blood, so much blood. Father will be pleased. But it is never enough, never enough to clench the thirst of a God. Shouting his name out to the sky he rushed to his brothers for one final stand. Father will be pleased.

Rinse and rub, the breastplate was almost ready. She always wanted to do it herself, despised magic for such mundane tasks. She focused now on the most difficult parts, the edges near the collar or the hinges at the shoulders. This was her favourite; there were scratches and dents that escaped the armorers that repaired it. This scratch here must be from that devil’s claws, that dent over there from the heretic’s maul. All of them made to cleanse this world. Just like her breastplate. Satisfied, she stood up, the sun just appearing from the window of her cell. Maybe with haste she’ll be on time for the morning prayer.

Running like the wind, she made good time on the glade. She could feel Yal’thearas pouncing at some distance on her left. Leaves and branches rushed by her, some brushing her tanned skin, others giving way with loud cracks as she rushed on her way in the forest. Now it is not time for caution, just speed. With a big leap she found herself amidst the younglings, as they are surrounded by the wraiths. She pulled out her horn and let loose a piercing cry that made birds fly away and the shaken younglings were able to stand firm again. As for the wraiths, Yal’thearas was already upon them.

Tribality and Brandes Stoddard bring us the Mysteries of The Gods-New Cleric Domains and Spells. As expected, the publication is broken down in two major parts, the new Cleric Domains and then the spells.

The Cleric Domains are three:

Blood Domain, where your Cleric becomes more Fighter-y gaining proficiency to more armor and weapons, increased ability to keep on fighting plus the ability to help others do the same. At bigger levels you’ll be able to inflict more damage too. They can take up the mantle of the party heavy-hitter and combined with another such character can really pose a hard-braking line. I can see this a must-have options for battle-heavy campaigns.

Exorcism Domain, where your Cleric becomes able to turn Fey and Fiends as well, clear your allies’ minds (thematically this ability is not only great, but also so much theatrical) and at bigger levels you are an even much bigger threat against Fey and Fiends. Thus, they have tremendous RP potential. The mechanics are there for sure, but you can build upon the idea behind this Domain for really memorable characters. My only concern is that generally I dislike player options that narrow down powers and abilities against certain creature types, making these options redundant if the DM has something else in store.

Spirit Domain, where your Cleric becomes effectively a Tribal Shaman, gaining a ghostly animal companion (restricted to four specific animals). Pretty much all the special abilities you gain through this Domain play around the use of your animal companion, except the last one that makes the Spirit Cleric more resilient and potent. Spirit Clerics (aka Shamans) are a cleverly executed “Pet Class”.The options available of the said animal companion are limited to four but these four are actually four different types of companions. So, easily one can alter the name of each option accordingly to the campaign setting and/or character background. Interestingly enough, this is not the first Shaman provided by a Tribality Publishing product; the “Shaman Class for Fifth Edition” by M. Long has the Spirit Shaman subclass that thematically is identical, but approaches the subject from a different angle (M. Long’s Shaman is a Spirit Warrior with a Spirit Companion focusing on completely different aspects than the Spirit Cleric).

The second part of the document provides eight new spells, half of which are cantrips. Some of them are given as extra spells in the new Domains of the first part, but pretty much all of them can be added to the spell lists of all the spellcasting classes. The author provides in a relative sidebar some ideas about that.

The cantrips in particular are really original. All of them are damaging cantrips, with damage that scales per level, plus some other minor effect. I’d prefer some different wording in Song of Battle though, because as is seems a bit too powerful.

The rest of the spells are relative to the themes already discussed. My personal favourite is Righteous Accusation that really embodies all of the idea behind the Exorcist.

All in all, Mysteries of the Gods looks like a really helpful supplement for 5e Clerics. You get fresh options build upon some classic ideas. For the price tag offered, it can be proven to be a fine purchase indeed.